1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a clamping clip fastening for mounting hinges, locks or the like structural component parts in a thin wall, such as a sheet metal cabinet door or housing, wherein a projection proceeds from the structural component part to be fastened, penetrates an opening formed in the thin wall and is grasped by a clip that is supported on two oppositely located edge areas of the opening, wherein the clip is pulled in the direction of the projection by means of a clamping screw.
2. Description of the Related Art
A clamping clip fastening of the type mentioned above is known, for example, from a brochure by Southco, Inc. entitled xe2x80x9cAdjustable Lever Latch.xe2x80x9d Reference is also had to U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,503. This known clamping clip fastening is disadvantageous in that it requires relatively complicated handling and, in particular, does not allow blind mounting. Accordingly, the structural component part, e.g., an adjustable swivel lever lock such as that described in the cited brochure or U.S. patent, must first be pushed through a corresponding rectangular opening in a door leaf from one side by its projections comprising the essential locking parts until it contacts the outer surface of the door leaf by its flange edge, whereupon a mounting clip is pushed on to the penetrating projection of the lock from the inside of the door leaf until the mounting clip contacts the inner surface of the door leaf. A screw bolt is then inserted through an opening arranged in the web of the mounting clip and is screwed into a bore hole inside the projection of the lock, namely, until the clamping clip contacts the inner surface of the door leaf by the ends of its legs and the lock is pressed by its flange onto the outer surface of the door leaf and the latter is accordingly clamped in.
It is the primary object of the invention to further develop the known clamping clip fastening in such a way that mounting is simplified and, in particular, blind mounting is also made possible.
This object is met in that the part of the structural component penetrating inward through the opening forms an offset on two oppositely located surfaces which are grasped by the legs of the clip, which offset receives the respective clip end and passes in the direction of the structural component part via an inclined surface into a surface contacting the interior face of the opening, which surface is approximately flush with the outer surface of the leg of the clip located in the offset.
This construction makes it possible to push the projection, including the pre-mounted clip, inward through the opening from the outside, after which the clamping screw need only be tightened, whereupon the legs of the clip are moved against the inner surface of the door leaf accompanied by spreading through the inclined surfaces until the desired clamping contact results between the leg ends of the clamping clip on the inside of the door leaf on one side and the flange surface of the structural component part on the outside of the door leaf on the other side.
This type of mounting is much simpler than that in the prior art. Moreover, it makes possible a xe2x80x9cblindxe2x80x9d fastening of the structural component part, i.e., fastening without access to the rear side of a door leaf or housing or the like. In this case, however, the clamping screw must either be accessible from the front side so that it can be tightened, or tightening of the clamping screw from the rear or in some other way must be ensured by other steps (such as a suitable opening).
According to a further development of the invention, the surface of the clip leg contacting the interior face of the opening has an extension vertical to the wall plane which approximately corresponds to the thickness of the thin wall. This results in a particularly close fit between the structural component part and the opening.
For the same reason, it is advantageous when, according to another further development of the invention, the structural component part forms a flange surface contacting the outer surface of the thin wall, wherein the projection proceeds from this flange surface. The flange surface also makes it possible for the clamping forces to be carried off in a dependable manner and also allows a leaf seal to be used.
The projection of the structural component part can simply be a fastening projection provided specifically for this purpose; alternatively, the projection can also contain functional parts of a lock.
According to another further development of the invention, teeth or points proceed from the end faces of the clip legs and dig into the material of the inner surface of the thin wall. This can serve, for example, to ground a metal lock at the metal door leaf so as to eliminate risk to the user from dangerous voltage on the inside of the cabinet.
In the case of elongated structural component parts such as retractable swivel lever locks, it can be advantageous to provide clamping clip fastenings having two or more clips which are separate or connected in one piece by a web, wherein these clamping clip fastenings engage around the elongated housing at two or more locations and accordingly enable a more stable mounting.
According to another further development of the invention, the clip can be shaped like a cap which engages around the projection in such a way that two oppositely located side walls of the cap have teeth at their end faces such that these teeth lie on the edge area of the opening having a longer extension than the extension of the projection, wherein a mutual displacement between the clip or projection and the thin wall is not permitted by pressure contact, but is made possible when contact is loosened.
Adjustability should be made possible particularly with the fastening of hinge parts. This adjustability is limited to a determined direction, according to another further development of the invention, in that retaining walls are provided vertical to the side walls provided with points, which retaining walls prevent a displacement of the cap with respect to the projection in a direction transverse to its longer extension. With hinge parts, it is particularly advantageous, according to another embodiment form of the invention, when the structural component part is a hinge part and the displacement made possible by loosening contact extends parallel or vertical to the hinge pin.
In principle, the clamping screw can be arranged in two different ways. For one, the clip can have a through-hole in its web area and the structural component part can have a threaded bore hole for the clamping screw, in which case the clamping screw is tightened from the rear side of the door leaf. Alternatively, if the clip is provided with a threaded bore hole or the structural component part is provided with a through-hole for the clamping screw, the clamping screw is actuated from the front side of the door leaf, which is advantageous particularly with blind fastening.
If a structural component part is to be fastened to a pipe, the construction according to the invention can likewise be used, wherein the possibility of blind fastening is advantageous particularly in this case because the inside of the pipe is normally difficult to access. When an opening is provided in the pipe opposite to the projection axis, an arrangement in which the screw faces inward can even be clamped.